During the latest session of the Legislature a bill (AB 284) was passed in Nevada and in October 2011 it became the law. This caused the plummeting of foreclosure numbers. As per the law the lenders have to prove their legal standing before foreclosing. This has led to increase in short-sale figures.

The case of undocumented immigrant Blanca Cardenas highlights the injustice done to her by Los Angeles Police Department and Immigration Department. For protesting against illegal foreclosure on her house she was taken into custody and deported, separating her from her toddler kid. She had no criminal record, has been residing in USA for 15 years and her husband is an American citizen.

Attorney Oppenheim has long been fighting for homeowners being duped by the banks to surrender their properties; the courts have not helped the borrowers. Oppenheim lauds Obama for doing something positive and thinks that this is only the beginning of far greater troubles for the banks.

The settlement deal has been finalized. But experts feel that unless Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also follow suit and reduce principals there will be no noticeable improvement. FHA, their regulator has already spoken out against this. The amount set aside for principal reduction is said to be just peanuts considering the volume of the problem.

The foreclosure crisis has been analyzed from the financial angle and accordingly financial solutions are being made but the urban designing part of it has been sorely neglected. Increased number of immigrants sought to reside in the suburbs but the developers had built single-family units. This led to many families squeezing into one house, inevitably causing socio-economic tensions.

One of the solutions to the foreclosure crisis is to re-design suburbs so that the houses are made to meet the needs of the people. It means altering single family units and recycling materials from old houses and factories. The problem of toxicity can be solved by planting certain types of trees. All this will require change in present rules.

As per the laws of Georgia State, the legislators have the authority to decide how the settlement money would be used. The attorney general of the state has asked them to use it for measures to mitigate the problems related to the foreclosure crisis.

Many have forgotten another settlement that was reached with the regulators with 14 mortgage servicers last year. Borrowers can apply for independent review of their cases, the timeline for which has been extended. They can stake claims on both settlements. The share of compensation is bigger in the settlement of last year.